Fruitarian Interview - 26 - Jamshed

26th in my series of interviews with fruitarians around the globe

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Hi Jamshed,

Many thanks for agreeing to be interviewed as a fruitarian.

I am quite excited about doing it, exploring myself through your questions.



Could you please start off by introducing yourself.. tell us who you are, a little about yourself, how old you are, what part of the world you grew up in? anything particular else you consider might be relevant to get an insight into who Jamshed is...

Jamshed is the name my father chose for me two weeks short of forty years ago. I am a male who grew up in the city of Leicester with my English side (I'm of Anglo-Indian decent-father Hindu Indian origin , mother English origin). I went to school/university and then leaped out out of the normal way of living in many respects.

Do you have a website or blog?

I have a page on giveittomeraw.com and some stuff on tribe.net.

Could you perhaps give us the direct links to those pages?

Yes, http://www.giveittomeraw.com/profile/jamshed and
http://people.tribe.net/de954173-1f8b-4a5e-a5c7-cbb60b95a133?_click_path=Application%5Btribe%5D.Person%5Bde954173-1f8b-4a5e-a5c7-cbb60b95a133%5D

OK.. How long have you known about the fruit diet?

I heard about a fruitarian diet in 1990 when a friend told me about someone doing it and kind of wasting away.

And when do you think it was that you first viewed fruitarianism in a more positive light?

Well later that year on Saturday 1st December 1990, a very memorable day, I met a man called Dave Shelley who seemed very well and enthusiastic for life and the fruitarian diet. I was so excited by all the ideas it brought to me, I slept little that weekend as my head was so full of thoughts relating to the wider contexts of this diet. That day I decided fruit was going to be my food and I would let go of the many complications that seem to come with a cooked diet.



Backtrack to your earlier years, what kind of diet did you grow up with?

I grew up having a bottle with cows milk and then started eating the cows as well. When I was six years old I saw on a Sunday farming television program some sheep being killed, I was totally shocked realising that one of my favourite 'foods' - lamb (which I was about to eat) was from the body of a real lamb which was killed for me and others to eat. I told my mother I was not eating them any more. Seeing this I realised that the other meat was animals too and that fish on the plate was once the fish swimming in the water, I also thought that the eggs I ate would hatch out into little chicks if I did not eat them. I stopped eating them all and told my mother I would eat them if they died of old age. No one else in the family I grew up with had a vegetarian diet, and this is one of two things in my life up to now that I feel enormous gratitude to my mother for, letting me do this. I had wondered about what happened to the milked cows when they got old and finally when I was seventeen I read a leaflet saying what happened to cows after being milked and what happed to the calves-so I finally weened myself that day : )

Could you give us a rough idea of what you used to eat on an average day?

I used to eat a lot of heavy vegan food, pasta, cereals, soyamilk, bread, sweets, biscuits oh and some of that beautiful stuff called fruit occasionally which I quite liked.

Compare that to now, what does a typical days food intake look like for you now, and how long have you been eating this way?

Well my eating does vary in quantity and type although it has been raw since the date mentioned. My staple is always fruit, I love to eat out in trees, how much I do this depends very much on my location which has varied since adopting a fruit based diet. For the first eight years I ate a total fruit diet that included non sweet fruit like avocadoes and tomatoes, then I started eating green leafy things that grow above ground like lettuce, arrugala (rocket), then came celery, and the last three years I have been eating nuts too. I often have water in the morning and then fruits in the afternoon and a salady type meal in the evening with avocados or nuts, some times I go back to soley fruits for a few days,weeks or months.

Interesting, why was it you stopped eating solely fruit after 8 years of doing so? And I would have thought that nuts being a pretty heavy processed food, that you maybe find them more difficult to process, any comments?

I stopped a solely fruit diet after living in Spain. There I had started to feel more and more unwell progressively, it was only when I returned to England and read up that I realised I had all the symptoms of what is called B12 defficiency. I investigated quite a bit. I had let the condition progress quite far, and once actually getting back to England I started to eat mushrooms straight the way, I felt an urge to eat other things. After reading Victoras Kulvinskas's book I decided to do the sprouting seeds thing, I did greens for the Folic acid-intrinsic factor (wow what a lot of complicated stuff I read), in a technical study I read that if the condition continues it can lead to permenent nerve damage, well I love to feel and I looked into supplements as well. No way did I want one that was derived from animal ingridients also I did not want some high tech chemicalled produced one. I realised that what people often take is a compound with cyanide, (I was told that was a poison as a little boy, also I was told poison is not type of substance but amount,ha ha) and in massive times the daily amonuts. I bumped into an aquantence who was a doctor and he saw the state i was in and recommened something like a million times the daily amount injected to my gluteus maximus. I found a supplement that was based on yeast, 100 % vegan ingredients, and each tablet 50 times daily amonut, and started to take it. Oh yes, I had also started eating nutritional yeast, Yum-yum-very gunky though, and aslo I grew wheatgrass for a short time and juiced it . What a varied diet. The suppliment tablets I broke in half, half am and half pm. With all the changes within two weeks I started to feel better, and after two months I started making a yurt, collecting all the wood and doing all the work by hand. I do not believe that I got ill/deficient because I was on a fruit diet and in no way has it put me off. I see that it was due to three things : I was drinking the local water which was known to have high levels of phosphates which interfere with asimilation in the intestines aparently, I was eating poor quality denatured food in Spain, and three not having optimal intestinal health. Also as a good freind MR Wodzak pointed out 'not enough hugs and love' - it was a few years until I really understood this. I really have a strong faith/inclination/trust/inner knowing that fruit from the tree, sunshine, air, joy, kisses dances, rain and wind and stars are a recipe for divine health and awareness.

Returning to your question about nuts being more difficult to digest, yes I would agree with this. One does not always choose the easiest path :) Presently I am living in a city in the middle of England, this is difficult for me to digest too, however once I get into the flow of the change I get acclimatised and find a rythm, things become more comfortable again then. May not be the ideal, however my wish and movement is towards this and I can accept it sometimes involves two steps forward and occasionally one back :)

So you are saying that you have complete faith in the 100% fruit diet, yes?

That is not a one word answer question for me. I love fruit I think it is beautiful, I feel it is beautiful, it is given by the plants and I welcome it.



Being in a tree eating I feel part of the whole of life, in the same family as the birds, bees, lions and tigers, eating in way which really does make my heart sing. I feel I have a freedom in my life which I really appreciate. I do not say I will never eat animals, although I abhor the idea of a creature being killed for me to eat, and really do not see it as food to me now, as far as I am concerned there is as much sense and desire in me eating animal flesh as human flesh, I do not see this as happening.

Eating cooked vegetables, I could do this, but I much more resonate with the idea of living in a warm climate where the fruits grow easily all year round and making them my food- this has happened at times, I have been yo-yo'ing back to the city of Leicester where my mother lives and have not made a stable home of the tropics like you mango.

Do I have faith in the 100% fruit diet? well generally the most peacefull and joyous times in my life are when I follow 100% fruit diet, I can see myself living continuously on a fruit diet 100% (the quality though is very important and I see this as happening when predominently I pick the fruit I eat, I wish to honour the tree by being present as I except it's gift, I know this sounds fancy words but I mean it, I love picking and taking fruits for friends but I much prefer to take a freind to the tree. Farming both organic and inorganic I have appreaciation for, it supllies most of my food at this time in my life,I have worked many years on Organic farms and consider the way to be quite brutal of treating the trees and the earth. I love gardens cared for with love, and I have a great deal of appreaciation for the guerilla gardening of simply planting trees in different places to encourage them and caring for them. I think I answered more than your question.

Anyway I would say yes I do have faith in this diet for me. For other people, they have there own choices and experiences to make and I wish not to tell them what they should do. I am very enthusiastic about fruit, I think just as much as when I started, perhaps even more.

I kind of understand what you are saying here (and why), but don't you think that really everyone would ultimately benefit from being on a fruit diet? I mean, much as everyone is responsible to make their own choices in life, I don't believe you are saying that some are physiologically designed to eat differently.. ?

Wow, you raise a lot of points there for me Mango. Firstly I prefer not to be in the 'everyone or nobody, always or never, good or bad, right or wrong' state of mind, thinking about so called everyone is beyond my mental capacity - I know that sounds to be taking it too literally, I do think there are a lot of people on the earth and I have only met and got to know a tiny fraction of them. The 'world' view is something I shy away from, it does not feel comfortable to me, I can do it by myself even without looking at televisions and newspapers by loosing touch with myself. If I treat each person as an individual and experience the life choices as new each time I consider them it keeps them alive and real and is what I would call being free.

I do not think in terms of people being physically designed to eat differently or even the same - as I do not see me as being physically 'designed', I came from my mothers womb, and and am fairly sure who she is - that's enough for me.

Thinking about the suitability of a persons body to maintain and be in health on a certain diet seems to be negating whole parts of their being. I chose a lacto-vegetarian diet when I was six years old, and a vegan when seventeen and a fruit diet at twenty-two, these were easy choices for me to make and I have continued them (apart from not being 100 % fruit). I feel fortunate in this, some people seem to have such a hard time in life taking care of life. I do not count any one out from being on a raw fruit diet, I just don't like to say everyone could be and would be much healthier. I suppose the ultimate test of me following this pattern of thought/consiousness right through would be with my mother. Since being back in Leicester with her for over a year now I have pushed for her to change her diet and her health, I consider her to have a much lower state of health/wellbeing than is possible. A few years ago I took care of her meals for about six months and she was what I, other family and herself consider to be in the best health for some years. It was a struggle for me and once I let go of pushing she returned to her 'normal' ways. Trying to change others is a distraction I feel this and the idea of 'all' others being able to change all as we did is also I beleive. I love to invite people to share in things I am doing. Last summer a women rode on a bicycle at my invitation for the first time in over 50 years, I invite people to take their shoes off when they see me walking with my soles on the earth ' and ask how does it feel'. Stepping out of the ordinary responses is exciting and so I see is being open to step out, so when I am invited to share in a cooked meal with friends I like to make a choice and encourage my friends to continue to keep this openess to change alive within me.

So what do you think it was that sparked your changes??

Enthusiasm for change in my life and compassion for others.

You're currently in the UK, but planning to head over to the US pretty soon, anywhere in particular you think you'll be hanging out there?

Well I am in England now, was liking the idea of getting to the west coast of the USA, have lots are dear friends in Ashland and Portland, Oregon and also in Santa Cruz , California. I would love to be again in these places. Santa Barbara, climate and fruits I enjoy very much too, would be nice for this winter. It looks like I may not go until April now as I have not yet connected with someone to share a cabin on a ship with, plus I do not have residency and like the idea of having the whole of the summer there.

I know you'll probably be travelling by sea, care to enlighten us all why you will unlikely be considering a flight journey instead?

I really do not feel drawn to being hurtled through the air, even going on fast trains is a turn off. I did get on a aeroplane last year to return to England to my sick mother, enjoyed it a lot and found it thrilling. However I really do not wish to repeat it. I like to be intimate in my life and live in a way such that I can be part of others doing that too. I could write an essay on how I feel about aeroplane travel, I am not anti it, I just feel drawn to going at a pace that is more like my own.

I guess there's always the issue of the enormous amount of fossil fuels needed for flights too right?

Yes and ships take huge amounts too, ships though as far as I know in their simplest from are the most efficient way to transport goods or people. I would rather put my money into going on a fancy cruise ship with masses of extras laid on basically by so called third world workers than into a form of travel whuich is far removed from the ones I am most a kin to ie walking and swimming.



I know you know Anne, and myself, but how many other fruitarians have you come across on your travels??

Probably five people who saw fruit as basically their food, we are rather a select bunch, I would like to ad though that I am a breatharian between meals and when I see people enjoying fruit I see the fruitarian in them.

Any of those 5 that haven't been interviewed yet?

I am unsure exactly who those five are mango! I attempted to come up with a figure that sumised a figure of fruity beings I've met, people go off the fruit wagon now and then it seems and even fruitarian queen Anne is not a 100%'er so I did not really know how to judge it, fair play on me though ha ha for trying to fit people in the fruitarian fruit box.

Can you tell us a little about your health before and after the dietary changes you've made? What about your weight? Any significant losses or gains?

I used to 'have hay fever' first summer after starting a fruit diet I was Sun bathing on a hay stack which would have been torture before. Also used to be crippled with poor breathing at least once a year, now it's only very occasionally if I get very stressed and sad and eat a lot, it's happened about four times in the last eighteen years. My weight did go very low once, down to 99 pounds! I was eating 100 % organic fruit and a lot of it, ended up going to the Canary Islands and ate less and only a few types of fruit, all very local. Was enjoying life a lot, lots of excercise and fresh air, two swims a day, work I enjoyed ended up putting on over 40 lbs in just a few months. My weight has never gone any where near that low again.

What do your mother and father make of your being fruitarian? What about the rest of your family?

At first my mother said to me 'jamshed I think you are going a bit too far now' she offered to bargain with me by going vegan to get me to start eating normally again. Since then has seen me live an energetic life and have much less ill health, and stopped a long time ago trying to get me to eat cooked food, I'm the one that pushes for her to eat more fresh food and less cooked/processed. My father thought I would be weak, as I was and am slim, however we worked together for three and a half months every day in a large construction project and he could see my strength and endurance, he has concern over me eating too much of one thing and not enough protein - he's from a medical background. Others in my family? well I have always been a bit different.

Do you have a partner?

Mango, thank-you for thinking to put in that question. I have many dear friendships and loved ones, they are my valuables, I am not in a relationship with a women of the baby making type (care not for the other labels for this 'type' of relationship) at the moment, and love the idea of this.

What's your view on supplements? - Stuff like vitamin pills, spirulina or similar? Are you at all concerned about not getting enough calcium/protein/B12/whatevers??

I am concerned about the quality of the fruit and water that I drink, and not about consuming these supplement products or the levels of various things. One of the biggest attractions to this diet was that of joining the rest of life on earth and eating in a simple way without being told what to eat and when.

Do you, or have you ever, suffered at all from cravings, or have you ever binge eaten? how do/did you deal with such times?

After switching to a raw diet I do not remember craving cooked food, once I had decided to change that was it, full stop, as was the case each time I refined my diet. Yes I reckon I do binge eat if that means eating a lot all at once, not all the time, usually when I am feeling a bit empty in my life-trying to fill up a space. Moderation is such a key especailly with such a powerful food as fruit,when I do this with fruit my life becomes so beautifull and rich with experience and peace.

I know there's a great market in Leicester where you are now, do you get most of your food from there? How does the choice you have there, compare to places you stay in the US?

The outdoor fruit and veg market does have a reputation and I have had some wonderful fruits from there, especially mangoes. It is virtually all non-organic and is usually at a very low monetary cost because it is ripe and ready to eat. How ever in the last few years I think it would be common opinion to say it has much declined in quality and qauntity. I buy most of my food from a wholefood shop in Leicester, all organic, today I bought the golden fruits from there: Egremont Russett apples and Conference Pears (when ever people talk to me of conferences I seem to imediately loose the plot and think of the pears!) I will endeavor to take a picture of them, they are so beautiful to me.

The choice of good quality organic fruit in leicester is no where near as good as I have experienced in Ashland, Portland and Eugene, Oregon, and in Santa Cruz, Mount Shasta, Santa Barbara, California. This is a big reason why I wish to return to the west coast of north America.

Do you ever talk with others about fruitarianism? If so, what do you think is the most common question people might ask you about it?

I do not call myself a fruitarian or vegan, I say what I usually eat, ie fruit, not into labels either on the fruit or me.

Aha!? But you'ld still call a mango a mango right?

Mango I will call you whatever you wish me to, and and I will call it with affection and appreaciation, thank-you for helping to connect us all.

How do you respond when people question your lifestyle and diet?

With enthusiasm usually, I am still very excited about fruit 18 years after realising it's wonder, and can talk for quite a time about it if someone is interested.

Do you have a favourite fruit?

Yes, I suppose I do. Figs, i feel really drawn to the trees, seem to have a sixth sense for spotting them, they call out to me I reckon because they know how much I appreciate what they offer. I have a wonder for all beautifully ripe fruits, and don't like to exclude any of them really because I remember how good they are when I'm hungry and they are ready.

Can you recall the first time you tried one?

Yes , the first time a ate a fig was in southern Portugal, and I really remember having so much energy after eating them. When I was a boy I loved fig rolls (fig newton).

I guess you must enjoy travelling? Have any favourite places as far as fruit goes that you could recommend to us all?

I do get very excited once I am getting ready to dpart on an adventure, however i would love to be settled in one place and so content as to not wish to leave. I have eaten some wonderful fruits in Santa Barbara,California - great climate outside the tropics for a variety of fruits through the year.

Where and how do you see yourself living and eating in 10 years from now?

Mango I really do not know where I will be next spring let alone in ten years time. I do like the idea that where ever I may be in ten years time (presuming my life continues to that point) that I am at peace with it, who knows where it will be or what I'll be eating - I like to be open to change, being on one of the Hawaiian islands and eating mangoes and the occasional durian does sound rather good though.

How do you feel if people tell you that you must be crazy, and that you can't possibly survive eating the way you do??

I would probably smile and say " Yes I guess it seems that way when your used to eating 'normally', and yes it's not a diet to survive on it's one to florish on!"

Finally, is there anything you'ld like to add as words of encouragement to those that are aspiring toward fruitarianism?

Enjoy what you eat, not sure about trying to be anything, achieving goals and all that kind of thing, I like to let go and embrace in life, there seems plenty enough stress.

I love the simplicity of the diet, if it calls to you-hooray!

Thanks Jamshed,
hug,
Mango.

Fruitarian Interview - 25 - Petr Cech - AKA Neo

25th in my series of interviews with fruitarians around the globe

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Petr has a website here: rawquest.dk

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Hi Petr (neo),

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions!
Could you please start off by telling us a little about yourself, how old you are, where you are living/grew up?

- I was born in Prague, Czech Republic, during the normalization period of communism (1974). An absurd, yet still less tragic period of the 40 years of communism in Czech country. From 1998 i live in Denmark.



So what took you from the Czech Republic to Denmark? Was it a good move for you? - How did you end up living there?

- I think i was one of the first lucky ones (or offers? ;) getting married after meeting each other on the internet. It was in 1997 when i met my future wife on the internet and one year later i moved to be with her in Copenhagen.

It was a good move for me, like always when i follow my heart and maybe "the omens"?

On to diet.. What kind of diet did you grow up with? Could you give us a rough idea of what you used to eat on an average day?

- I was eating a varied cooked omnivore diet, both mine two grandmas and my mother were experienced in cooking and could really make some good tasting dishes. They were also baking a lot, mostly cakes and sweet stuff. Usually i had a fried toast with garlic and jam or honey for breakfast, fruit or cakes during the day, lunch with a soup and a cooked dish and some canned fruit for dessert, dinner was the same, usually with some salad instead of canned fruit.

And compare that to now, what does a typical days food intake look like for you now?

- Fruit, fruit and more fruit. I eat usually my meals mono, sometimes smoothie and i eat occasionally celery stalks and lettuce leaves. It is great to just eat "desserts" all day long. When child i was also a big fan of tomato soup, today i can enjoy it everyday if i want to, without feeling sleepy and heavy.

When you say soup, I am presuming you are meaning uncooked, blended tomatoes right? Care to share your recipe?

Yes, i am talking about completely raw tomato soup. Very simple recipe, plenty of ripe dark red tomatoes and a ripe, sweet mango.



Since you clearly believe in just fruit, could you talk about your reasons for still occasionally including some greens or celery etc? Is it because of lack of choice, or cravings?

No, definitely not cravings ;)

I believe in the complete fruit diet, but only in optimal circumstances. I believe it can be done, if you are living near tropics and have a good quality, variety and abundance of fruit all the year round.

Nutritionally speaking, there is no known essential nutrient, what cannot be obtained from fruit. Even B12 is found in fruit, yet in small quantities- nanograms. For scientists obviously insignificant amounts to be mentioned. There is a good possibility of us, being on an optimal diet, to absorb B12 from the small intestines, where it is produced by bacteria. And, if we don't wash the fruits and eat with some dirt, there will be usually more than enough of B12. But still, it is hard to find anyone, who was living 100% on fresh fruit for decades. So i won't go and say to anyone, just eat fruit only and you will be fine. It would not be honest.

If one doesn't have access to good quality and variety of fruit and is not satisfied with it, i believe that incorporating greens to the diet is a good idea. There can also be some other reasons, having need for more nutrient density/mineral density, because of some pathologies, nutritional deficiencies.

My personal use of celery and lettuce has usually been as a great toothbrush after a fruit meal. Much easier for me to do it this way than having to remove food residues in between my teeth with a toothpick or a toothbrush. Especially when i am at work. I can also make some salad with lettuce or celery, it is fine with me.

While in tropics, though, i am on a 100% fruit.

So when did things start to change for you? Did you progress slowly to vegetarianism, veganism, raw food and fruitarianism, or was it more of a sudden change for you?? What sparked those changes?

- My progress to vegetarianism was very slow and even that i was not eating lot of meat i was still getting some on some occasions. One day i just knew that i will never eat meat again and i never did since. The path to vegan and then to raw food took just a few years. On raw food it was just natural for me to eat almost nothing else than fruit.

I became vegetarian because of the ethical aspect of it and just did what my heart told me. Veganism was a more knowledge based wide decision containing ethical, environmental and health reasons. Raw food was just something i did for health, because it was so logical and natural to eat this way. And fruit is of course the best food for humans, based on all aspects of life.



I'm lead to believe that when you first met Kveta a couple of years ago on the Czech Vitarian forum, that you weren't on a fruit diet, so when do you think it was that you realised that fruit was the ideal food, and how long have you been eating the way you do now??

- I was already on fruit diet for some years back then. I usually get 99% or more of my calories from fruit and the rest is celery and lettuce. I was eating monomeals of fruit for more than 5 years, in some periods only fruit, sometimes greens and very exceptionally some vegetables, nuts or seeds.

So you have complete faith in the 100% fruit diet right?

- Of course i have. Not only faith, i have a good reason to believe, that fruit is the best food for humans and i have a personal experience. I have read extensively Natural Hygiene, checked with the modern science and there is really not a good scientific reason, why to be afraid of a fruit diet. Fruit contains all the nutrition elements we need, all the essential aminoacids, all the essential fatty acids, all the vitamins, all the minerals. And not just that, it has them in a pretty good balance to each other, which is quite critical for their proper assimilation.

The only question science cannot give us yet, is the B12 vitamin. We know, that it is also found in fruit, but usually in very small quantities. We know, that there are bacteria living in the small intestine producing B12 and that it is also possible to absorb it. But we don't know if it also works in the real life. There are no large scale studies about people living on fruit for many years and their health.

Do you know any other fruitarians at all?

- Yes, i know not only fruitarians, but also people who love fruit, but don't live on fruit only. Some of my friends in Denmark eat fruit as a staple food of their diet. I know quite many lovely people from Kveta's forum and iheartfruit.com.



Can you tell us a little about your health before and after? What about your weight, any major changes?

- My health was declining on a standard diet, without me paying special attention to it. I was considered healthy by the standard terms, but had some minor troubles like: psoriasis and seborheic dermatitis, being sick 5-6 times a year with influenza or cold symptoms, when waking up during the night i felt sick in my stomach, sometimes having headaches etc. After getting on raw food and then mostly fruit based diet, i experienced a big improvement with all the mentioned problems.
My weight dropped 12 kg down the first year on the raw food diet and i was looking like a prisoner from a nazi-camp. Thanks to Dr. Douglas Graham i learned how to eat properly and enough of fruit to support my lifestyle. Today my weight is usually 4-6 kg less than for 10 years ago.

What do your parents think of you going fruitarian? What about the rest of your family? - your partner/children?

- I am very persistent in doing something i want to do, so nobody really tried to change my eating habits, even if they thought i was completely wrong. I hope i have had some influence on my parents and that they now eat more fruit and vegetables than before. My mother was eating raw food for some days with me, she is a big fan of durian. My wife is eating also mostly fruit and goes 100% when we are together in tropics. My two stepdaughters are both vegetarians by their own decision, love the "normal" fruit and hate durian ;)

Are you at all into supplements - Stuff like vitamin pills, spirulina or similar? Are you at all concerned about not getting enough calcium/protein/B12/whatevers??

- Before going on raw food, i was always having all kinds of supplement at home, teas and herbal formulas, homeopathic medicine etc. But after that i found out, that it doesn't really taste like food and i don't really want to eat something, which tastes awful.

Fruit is the most delicious food and the only food i love to eat.

I am not concerned, before there is a reason to be concerned. Usually all deficiencies can be reversed with ease if you not going completely ignorant about your body feelings and needs for long period of time.

I am concerned about not getting enough of fresh fruit, enough of fresh air, enough of sun, exercise, love and sleep. And with the knowledge i have i am glad, that i am more or less immune to the most serious and contagious disease in the world, the Fear.

If you read about deficiencies, it becomes more than clear, that the most deficiencies are because of some pathological states in the body or bad lifestyle habits like drinking, recreational drugs, overeating, junk food etc. It does not really depend on how much you eat of the specific nutrient, but how balanced is your diet and how is your lifestyle according to the Nature Laws.

Do you or have you suffered at all from cravings, or have you ever binge eaten? how do/did you deal with such times?

- Yes, i did have cravings and as a child in a period was eating like crazy. After eating raw food i had most problems with salt, it took me more than one year to get away with salt cravings. I believe the best thing to do is to stop doing it and never return to it. It really works like this ;) But then you must usually find some other good mental reward, or it can easily become too hard to bear. For me it was eating enough of a great fruit and smoothies.

Frozen Durian helped a lot! It is much easier to avoid cravings when you feel full and satisfied.



Do you have a good variety of fruit for you to choose from where you live now?

- Yes, Denmark is a fruit-friendly country, i think. It is possible to get some good fruit, all the year round, local or imported. But it could be better and a bit cheaper.

Do you normally tell people how you eat? If so, what do you think is the most common question people ask you about your diet?

Yeah, i tell people that i eat only fruit, if they ask. But sometimes it is not necessary, they can easily figure it for themselves- you attract some attention, when you eat 30 figs or 15 bananas for lunch in cafeteria.

The most common question is of course- "And where do you get your protein?"

How do you answer that question?

- I get my protein from fruits, as easily as i get all the other thousands of nutrients.

Do you have a favourite fruit?

- Fresh picked and ripe, good-tasting fruit is always my favourite.

But if i had to pick one, it would be durian. It is a fantastic fruit and i am totally in awe and euphoria every time i see it, touch it, smell it and taste it.

Can you find durian easily enough in Denmark?

- Not easily, but probably enough during the main season in Thailand.

I can only get mon thong, fresh or frozen and quite expensive. But... some durian is always better than no durian ;)

Can you recall the first time you tried one?

First time it was just a frozen piece from a plastic box. My wife has bought it in a chinese shop and there was no way to know, if this is really that famous durian. All the signs on the box were in thai language ;)

I hesitated a bit and asked her, if she is really, really sure, that this is durian. And i was still not convinced after trying it, that this is something good. But after giving it another chance, i just fell in love with it.



Where and how do you see yourself living and eating in 10 years from now?

- I would like to spent most of the winter in tropics and i hope i can eat 100% organic fruit, if not directly from own garden.

How do you feel if people tell you that you must be crazy, and that you can't possibly survive eating the way you do??

- I just smile, knowing that they don't have the proper knowledge nor experience to give me some nutritional/health advice. And usually they mean it good, they are sometimes truly worried about ones health, if they see some extremes. And fruitarian diet is an extreme diet by the normal means.

Finally, is there anything you'ld like to add as words of encouragement to those that are aspiring toward fruitarianism?

- Yes. Just go for it. It is definitely worth it, even if you now don't believe that you can do it, don't give up, instead give it more time. Eat as much fresh, totally ripe, organic and mono as possible. If you need to boost your faith in fruit, go to tropics and indulge in the most delicious fruits.

With every single year on this diet you will become more in love with fruit than ever before. After you learn how to choose the best fruits and eat them on top of ripeness, you will experience many magic moments. God bless fruit, you shall taste the fruit and fruit shall set you free. Amen :o)

Thanks Petr (AKA Neo)
hug,
Mango.

Fruitarian Interview - 24 - Hondo

Hi Hondo,

Thanks for contacting me and volunteeing to be interviewed!

I've just been looking through your myspace page (organickemistry).. I see you are a 30 year young guy, living in Georgia, US.. Is that where you were born and grew up?

Actually, I grew up in southeastern Michigan about 20 minutes outside Detroit. It was college that brought me south, and I lived in Georgia for 10 years. Now I’m back in Michigan for a short time before attending chiropractic school. (I can be reached via my myspace, or email: creative_eclectic at hotmail dot com).

I'm guessing that you came from a traditional omnivorous background, eating probably a typical diet of that area. Could you tell us a little about that? Maybe give us a rough idea of what you used to eat on an average day?

My diet was straight junk growing up. I rarely, if ever, ate fresh fruit. Instead it was meat with a starch like rice or mashed potatoes and overcooked vegetables for dinner every day. On top of everything else raw food in general wasn’t encouraged except when salad was served, but this came along with the typical condiments like ranch and buttermilk flavored dressings.

Holidays were a treat, and “soul” food, which ironically actually destroys one’s soul instead of feeding it, was served in abundance. Chitterlings, hamhocks, greens—all these things are markers for death, but as a Family who has a long history of suffering from deadly illnesses, we refused to change our lifestyles to align with the Creator’s wishes.

Each morning I normally ate 2-3 bowls of cereal for about 15 years. Each week I tore through 5 or more boxes of Frosted Flakes, Honey Comb, Corn Flakes, Wheaties, and other breakfast cereals we’re brainwashed to purchase. There was also plenty of oatmeal, grits, pasteurized milk and juice, butter, white sugar, pancakes, syrup and eggs to choose from, especially Saturday mornings.

For lunch I’d have packaged lunchmeat, cheeseburgers, fries, pizza. Man, I ate everything, and frequently suffered from constipation, gas, stuffy noses, colds and headaches. All this without making the connection to what and how I was eating.

And fast forward to the present, what does a typical days food intake look like for you now?

I began incorporating a majority of fruit in my diet this past winter, and I found that my appetite decreased by half, if not more. Thus most days I don’t eat anything until 11 AM or noon, but if I do it’s some coconut water, cantaloupe, or peaches. These foods are very light on my system and digest easily.

When I’ve access to coconuts I rarely drink bottled water. Actually tried this for two weeks straight and found it completely satisfying because coconuts have quite a number of nutrients we need and quenches one’s thirst better than bottled water which is stolen from the Earth.

Apples and melons are huge part of my diet, but altogether I only about 3 lbs. of food a day; fruit is so nutritious that my food intake is about 75% less than what it was 3 years ago when I became a vegetarian.

Once in a while I’ll sit down at a veggie restaurant and purchase a meal. My favorite spot on the south side of Atlanta is called Loving It Live, and they have an avocado sandwich that’s off the chain! LOL…Yeah, I had to plug them. Nice vibe, good folks, and good food.

OK, when did things start to change for you? Did you progress slowly to vegetarianism, veganism, raw food and fruitarianism, or was it more of a sudden change for you?? What sparked those changes?

Funny thing is my health journey began when I left for college. First thing I did was to cut soda out of my diet, only drinking juice and water. Couple years later I researched the Bible and studied the scientific basis for vegetarianism and was convinced of its merits, but due to my level of wisdom at the time I continued eating junk foods.

Fast forward to 2005, probably the harshest time of my life; I was dealing with my own personal issues including my body breaking down due to the spiritual and mental stress I placed on it. By this time I’d worked as a golf caddy for nearly 20 years, and a vertebrae in my back was out of place, I was fatigued and didn’t know what to do.

There were shows on Christian television playing that featured such health experts as Don Colbert, M.D., Ted Broer, Ph.D, I attended seminars with various healers from around the world, and my library was quickly filling with health books. This led me to the conclusion that a plant based diet was the way to go, and I tried it. I began eating fish, chicken and eggs exclusively for meat and cut out all other animal flesh, then discovered that fish, chicken, and chicken fetus (eggs) are just as bad as pork, so I quit eating these deadly products one month after eating it exclusively for what I thought was an efficient form of protein.

Next I cut out all dairy from my diet about 9 months later. During my continued research into vegetarianism I came across something called fruitarianism. I didn’t realize that one could live off all fruit. My diet immediately transformed into a mostly fruit based diet, and I found that my body and mind needed less of this food to function at peak efficiency; furthermore, cooked food began losing its flavor. The more fruit I ate the less cooked food I prepared.

I never went through the raw phase as we know it. Went straight from so-called veganism straight into a fruit-based diet. Never did like vegetables half as much as fruit, so it was an easy shift. Since then I’ve experimented with various foods, cooked and uncooked at single meals only, never reverting full force back into junk eating. Tried to eat cheese and meat a few times over the past 3 years and my body rejected it every time.

Right now my diet consists of fruit. I go down to living plant foods when there’s no fruit around.; I’m done with experimenting!

So when do you think it was that you realised that fruit was the ideal food, and how long have you been eating the way you do now??

This past winter I travelled out west to Arizona and the Sunlight was so powerful that my body transformed rather quickly. The sun fed my body’s cells, and I ate only 2 or 3 lbs. of food daily, and was able to work out harder than I ever had in my life—all bodyweight exercises, primarily chin-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups. Most of my exercise was done outdoors when the sun was out in full force. At this point in time my spirit was rejecting anything cooked, and I ended up throwing away a dozen or so lbs. of food that I barely touched.

We must bear in mind that Sunlight is a food, even above that which we put in our mouths. Yes, even fruit, which ironically is solidified Sunlight encased in a skin called a peel or shell.

So you have complete faith in the 100% fruit diet right?

I’ve nothing but Truth as found within the confines of Universal Law to support a fruitarian diet. With the fields of anatomy, physiology, biology, history and religion, specifically that found within the most ancient texts, recording a raw plant based diet as humankind’s original plan for nutrition, we cannot do anything but question our current status as a country full of sick people. I say country because, here in the dis-United States we have the worst health in the world, and yet most countries don’t have our spiritual, emotional, mental and physical issues. Much of this stems from greed, but fruit is encapsulated light and reveals all darkness within oneself and this same light shines on others. Thus greed and other vices begin to dissipate on a fruit diet.

So yes, Sir, I have 100% faith in the fruit diet.

Do you know (or know of) many or any other fruitarians at all? Anyone you think might be interested in volunteering to be interviewed too maybe??

I’ve met one fruitarian, and that’s Dr. Aris La Tham, who’s been in the game for who knows how long! He’s truly a master of his craft, being one in a long line of culinary artists. There’s also Richard Blackman, the Fruitarian1, who you know already.

Finding fruitarians is difficult in the states, with the possible exception of Florida and Hawaii; fruit grows in abundance, especially in uncultivated areas. However, tropical regions around the world there are more of us.

Can you tell us a little about your health before and after? What about your weight, any major changes?

From the age of 18 through 27 years old I remained a steady 150 lbs. When I quit eating animal flesh, even while eating cheese, I dropped to 140 lbs. within several months. This weight changed this past winter as I began eating primarily Sunlight and fruit. Now I weight 148 lbs., which most find amazing that a fruitarian can gain weight. And all this time I hadn’t worked out until just a few weeks ago.

I no longer get stuffy noses, colds, and sickness in general, unless I deviate from eating fruit. My body’s more sensitive to light and sound, and this is great when these waves are natural, but when unnatural it’s literally unnerving. Traffic, artificial lighting, cellphones, computers, television, all that causes pain that no clinical study or medical book can describe. Plain and simple. Your body becomes very sensitive to both nutrition and toxicity when you eat fruit for a short time.

My overall health has been great. Coupled with a great deal of sunshine the fruitarian diet is perfect. Period.

What do your parents think of you going fruitarian? What about the rest of your family? - Do you have a partner or children?

My parents thought I was a space alien when I told them I only eat fruit. “You only eat fruit?” they’d say. My mother thought I would waste away because I was already thin. The rest of my family just cock their head to the side and view me as abnormal. It’s cool; I was there once.

I spend time with my children who are on a fruitarian diet when they’re with me. They’ve never been sick in my care, not once, in nearly 4 years. When I changed my diet I changed theirs, too. They love fruit, and that’s all we eat. My eldest can actually identify different fruits even at a young age, and asks what something is when he can’t. So I’ve the chance to teach them about nutrition.

Are you at all into supplements - Stuff like vitamin pills, spirulina or similar? Are you at all concerned about not getting enough calcium/protein/B12/whatevers??

Supplementation = Food politics. I’m a health practitioner, not a politician. The body doesn’t need supplementation, even with our soil depletion and other forms of planetary abuse. Once the body gets what it needs it discards the rest; the supplements being sold are there to make certain health ‘gurus’ rich and famous. They know who they are, thus there’s no need to mention them by name here.

Pills lodge inside the intestinal tract and our digestive enzymes aren’t designed to break them down. The Creator designed food in its whole state. Nothing was dehydrated, placed into gelcaps, or liquidated with isolated inorganic chemicals such as vitamin families A-Z.

Nutrition was strategically placed so that we wouldn’t be overloaded with these superfoods the aforementioned gurus are promoting. Many become rich while others die…

Calcium comes in a beautiful form called fruit. You have plenty in fruits. Eating a wide variety of fruits will supply you with what you need to thrive. Same with protein, which is found in many fruits.

This isolationist thinking surrounding B-12 has damaged the potential knowledge of dietary law. This substance is found within a health intestinal tract. Cleanse, heal and maintain the colon and you will have B-12. Even cholesterol, which is only found in animal products, is created by a healthy liver. Cleanse your liver, you will have cholesterol to buffer your blood vessels.

Do you or have you suffered at all from cravings, or have you ever binge eaten? how do/did you deal with such times?

At one time I craved starch. This went away faster than I expected, but then I had cheese to deal with. Most I’ve spoken with who want to go raw or vegetarian (“vegan”) have a difficult time erasing cheese from their lives. I was no different. I craved cheese whenever I came under emotional stress. Now I no longer crave cheese, thankfully. It’s a matter of reminding yourself what this stuff really is and that, in many cases, we were all raised on it. It’s not a health product, it’s not a food, because it’s designed for calves to eat, not humans. Even raw cheese.

Do you have a good variety of fruit for you to choose from where you live now?

Not in Michigan. The growing season for most foods is short because of the climate. Central and southern Georgia, however, have a subtropical climate and allows for a longer growing season for their foods which are farmed there. So when in Georgia I do pretty well with a larger variety of foods to choose from.

Do you normally tell people how you eat? If so, what do you think is the most common question people ask you about your diet? ( I have noticed that you have an excellent FAQ page on your myspace blog - http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=267537289&blogID=430437151)

Well, I teach, not tell, per se. But it gets through even if they don’t want to eat a raw vegetarian diet. The most common question I get is, “That’s all you eat is fruit? What about vegetables?” And I promptly smile and say “Yes.”

Do you perhaps have a favourite fruit or fruits?

Cantaloupe and apples. Also love coconut water. Tropical countries offer hundreds of other types of fruit so my choices are limited.

Can you recall the first time you tried any paticular fruit?

First time I had young coconut water was about a year ago and I found it hard to believe how good it was! I swear by it now.

Do you enjoy travelling? Have any favourite places as far as fruit goes that you could recommend to us all?

I do indeed love to travel, but haven’t yet the opportunity to travel abroad and tastes the many hundreds of fruits, with each having from several varieties to hundreds of varieties of its kind. Stay tuned…

Where and how do you see yourself living and eating in 10 years from now?

Somewhere where the weather’s warm all year. I’ll still be eating fruit!



How do you feel if people tell you that you must be crazy, and that you can't possibly survive eating the way you do??

I ask them were the original inhabitants of this planet crazy? I ask them to look at pictures of or visit traditional cultures who eat differently than we do here. Their people are strong, wise, intelligent, full of life. And though many of them are not fruitarians, they definitely don’t eat like most of us in colonized countries! If you’re not colonized, you’re cultured, and if you’re cultured, your food, if it is plant life, has a higher vibration! Can you dig it?!

Finally, is there anything you'd like to add as words of encouragement to those that are aspiring toward fruitarianism?

Those who have ears to hear, let him hear. Don’t give up on improving your lifestyle because cultural devils try to sway you. These demons come in the form of so-called friends, relatives, and corporations. When you embark on a health journey it is important to realize you are bound to have more of the people closest to you try to stop you from reaching your destiny than those you would consider your worst enemies.

Remember: A righteous spirit, and a sound mind, and a strong body = Supreme Health

Stay strong!

Thanks Hondo

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Previous Fruitarian Interview - 23 - Katherine Freeland
Next Fruitarian Interview - 25 - Petr Cech

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All The Fruitarian Interviews

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Rob's orange journey..

Just a quick shout out for Rob, a fruitarian who I interviewed back here:

Interview No.12 with Rob

He has decided to go purely onto oranges until his next spring, and will be blogging about his journey..

So anyone interested in following his progress, head on over to:

Rob's Orange Journey

Peace,
Mango
PS. I know I'm not blogging much lately, but rest assured, all is well, and I'm enjoying life, and will write something again sooner or later..

The symptoms of detox..

I've already written a little about detox in previous posts, (Some thoughts on Detoxing, The Golden Rules of Detox, Nuts on a fruitarian diet and How long does it take to totally detox), but recently our feline friend Orellio, asked in a comment on the creationism vs evolution post, to write more about the symptoms of detox..

Yeah, well, it's simple really, detox is just the body expelling stuff that shouldn't be in there. And as I've said previously, the main thing you've got to realise is that such expulsions are often unpleasant, uncomfortable or even darn right painful.. (But, looking on the bright side, think of the benefits!)

That's not to say, of course, that every form of physical discomfort we might endure, is a sign of detox.. If we bash an arm against the table, it'll hurt.. if we fall over and scrape our knees it'll likely sting some.. and sometimes, at the stickier end of the stick, we can be just so plain toxic, that the body has plum given up trying to expel stuff. I'd venture to say that cancer is one of those things that occur, once the body has basically become over saturated with toxicity, rendering it so sick, that having been pushed to it's limits, it can no longer take care of itself as it normally would..

But back to the symptoms.. I guess that the most common form of detox that we all know and love so well, is probably the common cold..

Forget the germs, bugs and bacteria.. they are not the issue at all, the real issue is the mucus.. that sludge that blocks up our passages..

Without the mucus, that warm cosy slimey sticky gooey stuff, the germs would have nowhere to call home.

Get rid of the mucus, and there can be no cold, flu, or pneumonia..

As I've sid before, the germs are naught more than flies around a dirty dustbin, and although they may add to the irritation, the real issue is solved by cleaning the dustbin.. Not killing the flies with pharmaceuticals.

Ask any long term, consistent, fruitarian when they last "caught a cold"..

Other symptoms of detox are headaches, (normally due to bloodstream being polluted, and until that "pollution" gets moved around and expelled, the likelihood of the headache disappearing is slim.), stomach aches and the like..

Similarly to cancers, discomforts that are not specifically detox (but clearly related to toxicity) are things like rheumatism, arthritis, certain allergies to natural substances, diabetes, and a whole host of formally differently classified syndromes often baring the name of whichever white-smocked scientist first recognised it's pattern and behaviour under a microscope..

Regardless of whatever latin name such symptoms may be classified under, the fact remains that they are only there, because the body has been polluted. I know it sounds simple, but that's simply because it is. - The truth is simple. Stop the pollution and whatever symptoms are visible, will gradually disappear of their own accord.

This is knowledge that the medical industry seems completely oblivious towards, and it seems they would rather have us believe that headache is caused through lack of asprin in our diet.

The focus may have been shifted from invisible diabolical entities that needed exorcising out of us, to microscopic bacteria that randomly infests us, but nothing has really changed.. - germs can only exist where there is already decaying filth.

I wasn't sure what I was going to write before I started this post.. I just let the words trickle from my fingertips.. and I'm sure they will not be the last on this subject..

Peace,
Mango.

Fruitarian Interview - 23 - Katherine Freeland

Katherine has requested that her interview be deleted.

She believes the fruitarian diet did not work for her, and is now basically on an anti candida diet. No sugar, no flour, little dairy.. a lot of raw vegetables and she enjoys scrambled eggs with garlic, fishes and rarely, white meat.

She feels she functions better with this diet, and that her nerves and emotions are more predictable.

We are each and every one of us responsible for our own healths, and must reach our own conclusion as to what defines a healthy diet.

I wish her well.

peace,
Mango.

Creationism vs Evolution

I find this to be a fascinating topic.

Personally I think the truth is out there.. just well hidden from view.

I'm not a creationist, at least not in the traditional biblical sense, but neither do I believe in Evolution... I believe both are just theories, and that the "out there, but hidden" truth is probably something that is, well, for want of a better word, different.. Possibly entirely unexpected..

I guess my recent interest has been sparked by watching a Kent Hovind video.

Not sure how many of you may have heard of this guy, he is a creationist, and goes around giving talks and debates with evolutionists, and I must admit he is a very very influential and captivating speaker.

I would strongly recommend, that if you ever get a chance, you listen to him talk.. The video I watched is aptly named "Why Evolution is Stupid", and honestly, there is much food for thought in what he says.. He sort of proves once more how this society is full of lies that hide behind science, and how science itself at many levels, both cheats and deceives..

His material is noncopyrighted, so you can download his videos via torrents, or if anyone is really interested, I could possibly burn the .avi file I have, and send it for the cost of DVD, postage and packing via paypal.

Peace,
Mango.